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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Bombay HC closes case against four accused

Mumbai: In a major setback to the prosecution, the Bombay High Court has quashed a Special Court’s order framing charges implicating four accused in the Malegaon 2006 bomb blasts case, thus effectively closing the trial against them.   A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Shyam Chandak allowed appeals filed by the accused - Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Ramsingh Narwaria and Lokesh Sharma - setting aside the Special NIA Court’s September 30, 2025 order...

Bombay HC closes case against four accused

Mumbai : In a major setback to the prosecution, the Bombay High Court has quashed a Special Court’s order framing charges implicating four accused in the Malegaon 2006 bomb blasts case, thus effectively closing the trial against them.   A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Shyam Chandak allowed appeals filed by the accused - Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Ramsingh Narwaria and Lokesh Sharma - setting aside the Special NIA Court’s September 30, 2025 order that had charged them with murder, criminal conspiracy and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).   The high court’s ruling has discharged all the four appellants and halts the last remaining prosecution in one of the deadliest terror cases famous as the Malegaon 2006 blasts case. With this, there are no accused left facing trial.   Earlier, the court had condoned a 49-day delay in filing the appeals, noting they were statutory appeals under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.   While admitting their pleas in January 2026, the Court had observed that a “prima facie case for interference” was made out and stayed further trial proceedings in the Special Court.   Later, the case narrative went topsy-turvy after the NIA entered the probe. It concluded that the earlier (nine) accused were innocent and instead pointed to the alleged involvement of Hindu right-wing activists.   In 2016, a Special NIA Court discharged all the nine originally accused-arrested men on grounds of insufficient evidence. This ruling was challenged before the high court in 2019 and is still pending.   Purported Confession The NIA’s conclusions in the revised case relied heavily on a purported confession by Swami Aseemanand in 2010, in which he allegedly claimed that an associate Sunil Joshi (since deceased) had told him that the Malegaon blasts were carried out by ‘his boys’.   Based on this confession, the NIA filed a fresh charge-sheet naming the four appellants, along with the deceased Joshi and three others absconding accused.   However, Aseemanand later retracted his confession and alleged coercion tactics. He was already in custody and accused in other blast cases like the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif, and the court rejected his confession as ‘unreliable’, and acquitted him.   No Eyewitness The lawyer for the four appellants argued in the high court that there were no eyewitness linking the accused to the terror strike and that the prosecution’s case was based on a confession that was already discredited by multiple courts.   He also questioned the legality of discharging the other (nine) co-accused while proceeding against the (four) appellants, pointing out that appeals against those discharge orders are still pending.   The four men were arrested in 2013 and spent six years in custody before being granted bail in 2019, with the high court noting at the time that they had been incarcerated without trial for an extended period.   With today’s ruling, the case has acquired a queer legal status: the original nine accused have been discharged, and the charges against the subsequent set of four accused are quashed.   While the discharge of the nine accused awaits the final legal scrutiny, till date, not a single conviction has been secured in 20-year-old blasts case.   Incidentally, the verdict comes barely a year after a Special NIA Court acquitted all seven accused in the other Malegaon 2008 bomb blasts case, citing lack of evidence, in which, among the accused were ex-BJP MP Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur, besides certain army officers.   As far as the survivors and the families of the victims are concerned, the 2006 case has brought no relief despite prolonged investigations by multiple probe agencies, shifting theories, and an unfulfilled quest for fixing accountability.   Multiple probes, no result It was a Friday afternoon of September 8, 2006 when multiple blasts ripped through the Hamidia Mosque and a cemetery in Malegaon, a power-loom town in Nashik district. The explosions killed more than 31 people besides injuring over 300, sparking widespread outrage.   The local police and then the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), first probed the case and arrested nine Muslim men against whom a chargesheet was filed in December 2006.   Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case in 2007, and continued the same line of investigation, while the nine accused spent nearly five years in jail before securing bail in 2011.

The Art of Grabbing Life with Both Hands

Opportunities are everywhere—waiting not for the young, but for the awake.

Many people unknowingly imprison themselves with one dangerous thought: “It’s too late for me.” Too late to learn. Too late to change. Too late to dream again.

But life doesn’t work on a fixed calendar. It works on awareness, courage, and willingness. Opportunities do not vanish with age; they merely change their shape, waiting patiently for those who are alert enough to recognise them.

 

At every stage of life, we carry a unique strength. In youth, we have energy and curiosity. In middle age, we have experience and emotional maturity. In later years, we possess wisdom, patience, and clarity.


Opportunities come dressed according to our phase of life. A 20-year-old may grab an opportunity to explore and experiment. A 40-year-old may seize one to rebuild or realign. A 60-year-old may find an opportunity to mentor, create, or finally pursue a long-ignored passion.


The tragedy is not age—it is hesitation.

 

The Myth of the “Right Time”

We often wait for the perfect moment:

When the children grow up

When finances are stable

When responsibilities reduce

When confidence magically appears


But the “right time” is a myth. Life rewards those who move despite uncertainty.


Every opportunity comes with fear attached. Growth is never comfortable. If comfort were a sign of correctness, nothing new would ever be born.

 

Learning Never Has an Expiry Date

One of the greatest gifts of our era is access to learning. Knowledge is no longer locked behind classrooms or age limits. Whether it is technology, art, communication, health, or finance—learning keeps the mind young and the spirit alive.


People who continue learning do not age the same way. They remain curious. They remain relevant. They remain hopeful.


A curious mind sees opportunity where others see obstacles.

 

Failure Is Not Disqualification

Many hesitate because they have failed in the past. But failure does not mean you are incapable—it means you are experienced.


Every setback refines judgement. Every mistake sharpens awareness. At a certain age, failure no longer breaks us; it teaches us how to make better choices.


Opportunities often knock quietly after failure, asking, “Are you wiser now?”

 

Opportunities Often Wear Disguises

Not all opportunities arrive as promotions, money, or applause. Some arrive as:

A difficult situation that forces growth

A responsibility that reveals hidden strength

A loss that redirects purpose

A chance to start small, again


Life rarely announces opportunities loudly. They whisper. Those who are attentive hear them.

 

The Courage to Begin Again

Starting again is not weakness—it is bravery.


Reinvention is a sign of self-respect. It means you refuse to let past choices define your future possibilities. No matter how many chapters have already been written, you are always allowed to write a new one.


People who grab opportunities later in life do not chase validation. They chase meaning.

 

What Truly Holds Us Back

It is not age.

It is not society.

It is not a lack of resources.


It is:

Fear of judgement

Fear of failing publicly

Fear of stepping outside a familiar identity


Once we loosen our grip on these fears, opportunities appear everywhere.

 

Grabbing Life, One Chance at a Time

Opportunities do not ask for perfection. They ask for presence.

They ask:

Are you paying attention?

Are you willing to try?

Are you ready to grow?


The moment you say yes, life meets you halfway.

 

A Gentle Reminder

No matter your age:

You are not late.

You are not behind.

You are not finished.


Life is generous to those who remain open.

 

Opportunities are everywhere—waiting not for the young, but for the awake.

And the most beautiful truth is this: as long as you are breathing, you are still becoming.


(The writer is a tutor based in Thane. Views personal.)

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